The present invention relates to a lever engagement type connector provided with a wire cover separation preventing function, and more particularly to a lever engagement type connector with a wire cover separation preventing function in which a wire cover is prevented from becoming inadvertently separated at the time of complete engagement of a connector.
The lever engagement type connector to which the invention is applied is a connector with a wire cover which is comprised of a male connector, a wire cover, and a female connector with a lever. The lever engagement type connector is arranged such that a lever with a cam groove is pivotally supported on one connector (e.g., female connector) of a pair of connectors which are engaged with each other, an engaging pin which engages with this cam groove is projected on the other connector (e.g., male connector), and if the lever is pivotally manipulated, the engagement and separation of the both connectors are assisted by the engagement between the engaging pin and the cam groove. The lever engagement type connector itself is publicly known (refer to Patent Document 1).
FIGS. 15 to 23 show an example of a conventional lever engagement type connector with a wire cover.
FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional connector with a wire cover. This connector C100 with a wire cover is comprised of a male connector 100; a female connector 200 which is engaged with this male connector 100; a wire cover 300 for covering a multiplicity of wires which are led out from a side of this female connector 200 which is away from its male connector side and for changing the leading-out direction of the wires to an orthogonal direction; and a lever 250 for effecting engagement between the male connector 100 and the female connector 200 with low friction and for holding the engaged state. This lever 250 is turnably mounted on the female connector 200.
FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional plan view illustrating a state in which the wire cover 300 is fitted to the female connector 200. FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of an engaging portion shown in FIG. 16.
In FIGS. 16 and 17, as a retaining projection 300K provided on the wire cover 300 is engaged with a retaining arm 200K provided on the female connector 200, the wire cover 300 is fitted to the female connector 200.
The shapes and places of disposition of the retaining arm 200K and the engaging projection 300K are not particularly limited.
FIG. 18A is a front elevational view of a state in which the wire cover 300 is fitted to the female connector 200, and FIG. 18B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 18A-18A in the direction of arrows in FIG. 18A. FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a portion where the lever 250 in FIG. 18B is temporarily engaged with the female connector 200.
The lever 250 in FIG. 18A is adapted to rotate on the female connector 200 by using its rotational center 250C as an axis.
When a retaining lock 250R provided on the lever 250 is engaged with a retaining lock 200R provided on the female connector 200, the lever 250 maintains its temporarily retained state, as shown in FIG. 18B.
FIG. 20A shows a state in which the male connector 100 is temporarily engaged with the female connector 200, and FIG. 20B shows a state in which the male connector 100 is completely engaged.
In FIG. 20A, an inserting portion of the male connector 100 is inserted from below into an insertion port provided on the lower side of the female connector 200, and a temporarily engaged state is thereby maintained. At this time, a grip 250G of the lever 250 which is pivotally supported on the female connector 200 is oriented in an orthogonal direction (horizontal direction in the drawing) with respect to the engaging direction (vertical direction in the drawing) of the connector.
After the temporary engagement of the male connector 100 as shown in FIG. 20A, if the grip 250G of the lever 250 is rotated from the horizontal direction in the direction indicated by arrow P1 in FIG. 20B by using the rotational center 250C of the lever 250 as an axis, and is thereby set vertically, a retaining projection 100T formed in the vicinity of the center of a lower portion of the male connector 100 is fitted during the rotation of the lever 250 into a cam opening 250T formed in the vicinity of the opposite side of the rotational center 250C of the lever 250 to the grip 250G. Consequently, the male connector 100 is raised while the retaining projection 100T is guided by an end portion of the cam opening 250T in conjunction with the rotation of the lever 250.
FIG. 21A is a plan view, taken from above, of the engaged state of the connector shown in FIG. 20B, and FIG. 21B is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 21B-21B in the direction of arrows in FIG. 21A.
If the rotation of the lever 250 is further continued, a retaining lock 250L provided on the lever 250 rides over a retaining lock 300L provided on the wire cover 300 and is engaged with the retaining lock 300L. At this time, the raising movement of the male connector 100 is finished, and the male connector 100 and the female connector 200 are in a completely engaged state.
In FIG. 21B, a slope 250S is formed on the obverse side in the rotating direction of the lever retaining lock 250L, while a slope 300S is also formed on the retaining lock side of the retaining lock 300L of the wire cover 300. Therefore, during the rotation, the both slopes 250S and 300S undergo relative movement while coming into contact with each other with low contact resistance, and the lever retaining lock 250L finally rides over the retaining lock 300L and is engaged with the retaining lock 300L.
FIG. 22 shows a state in which the male connector 100 and the female connector 200 are completely engaged. FIG. 23A is a cross-sectional plan view of the connector shown in FIG. 22, and FIG. 23B is an enlarged view of an inserting portion shown in FIG. 23A.
To disengage the completely engaged connector, the lever 250, which has been rotated to the position of rotation completion as shown in FIG. 22 and FIG. 20B, is rotated in the reverse direction up to its initial position of rotation, thereby canceling the complete engagement of the two connectors 100 and 200 and setting the both connectors 100 and 200 in the temporarily engaged state.
With the wire cover 300 of the conventional connector, even in the connector is thus in the completely engaged state, since an engaging portion R between the female connector 200 and the wire cover 300 is exposed, as shown in FIG. 22, a disengaging jig G can be easily inserted into the engaging portion R. Therefore, if the disengaging jig G is inserted into the engaging portion R between the female connector 200 and the wire cover 300, the engaging projection 300K of the wire cover 300 rides over the engaging projection 200K of the female connector 200. In consequence, the engagement is canceled, and the wire cover 300 is separated from the female connector 200. If the engaging portion R is exposed in this manner, there has been a possibility that foreign substances can enter.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication Number 2003-272768 A